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By Gavin Tyte
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The farmers dropped me off at the picturesque town of called Te Anau. Te Anau is on the edge of Lake Te Anau, the largest lake in the South Island of New Zealand, and it is the gateway to an area of outstanding beauty called Fiordland. I decided to walk one of the many picturesque hiking trails in this part of the world. Some of these trails get so busy in the summer that you have to book them in advance, or hope that there is space on the day you wish to walk. I chose to walk the Routeburn track – a three-day walk through the Southern Alps.
On the way to the trailhead, I hitchhiked with a couple of Englishmen called Rich and Guy and Guy decided to walk the track with me. On the first evening we walked for just an hour and spent the night in the Howden Hut, one of the huts provided for walkers. The next day we walked for about three and a half hours to Lake Mackenzie. The sun was still warm and we were hot from our walk. The water in Lake Mackenzie looked clear and inviting. I stripped off my clothes, walked out onto a rock on the edge of the lake and dived in. Immediately it felt as if someone had put a clamp on my head as well as other, more sensitive parts of my anatomy. To say the water was cold would be an understatement. It was absolutely freezing. I could hardly breathe as I swam quickly to the edge. I looked up into the nearby mountains and could clearly see that the lake was being fed by a stream coming from a small field of ice and snow! The following day we walked to for most of the day through the mountains to Routeburn Flats and the last day we walked to the end of the trail. From there I caught a bus to Queenstown.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of the South Island. From here you could book one of any number of extreme sports and activities. As my time was short, I decided to pack as many extreme activities into one day as I could and I booked a place on the Awesome Foursome. The Awesome Foursome was a six and a half hour trip costing $240. First up was a helicopter ride. We banked from side to side down a rocky canyon. The helicopter landed by the edge of the Shotover River. Next up was a jet boat ride up the river. These extremely fast powerboats can do 90-degree turns and we would drive towards rocks and then turn at the last minute. As we jetted up the river, Skippers canyon loomed into view – a 229 ft bridge above the raging river. We piled out of the jet boat into a Land Rover and drove up a steep track to the top of the canyon. Next up was the bunjy jump. We took it in turns to make our jumps and I was one of the last of our group to jump. When my turn came, I climbed through railings and onto the jumping platform. The two guys were deep in conversation as they tied together my ankles – I felt like interrupting their chat and asking them to concentrate on what they were doing as this was kind of important to me. They then clipped on the bunjy and I hopped out onto the plank surrounded by emptiness. I put my toes over the edge. I was really scared. The guys counted down, “5…4…3…” I jumped. Holding my breath and not even able to squeeze out a scream, I plunged towards the ground. I could hear the wind rushing past and the ground getting closer and closer. Want to know what you do if you are falling uncontrollably towards the ground? You hold your breath and put your hands out to stop yourself – well, at least that’s what I did! I felt the bunjy tighten and I slowed down, then sprang back up to within 30ft of the bridge, then down again. After I had finished bouncing, I was lowered headfirst into a boat, unclipped and taken to the shore. Then it was back into the jet boat again, to race back down the river. We jumped out at the rafting station, put on helmets and buoyancy aids, had a quick 5 minutes instruction on rafting, and then rafted down the river for one and a half hours. The day finished back at base with a hot tub and pie and chips. Was it awesome? Yes!
From Queenstown I began hitching up the west coast of South Island. My first hitch was with a married couple who were going to become the franchise owners of the first Queenstown McDonalds. I’m afraid to say that I didn’t share their enthusiasm at the prospect of another McDonald’s being built in such a picturesque setting.
As I hitched up the west coast, I stopped at Lake Matheson and the Fox Glacier. The Fox Glacier is two miles long moving at about one metre per day. The front of the glacier looks like a massive iceberg. I went for walk up the edge of glacier and as I was walking back down, some distance away, at the dangerous front of the melting glacier, a huge part collapsed. The sound of the ice crashing was thunderous and everybody stopped in their tracks, in awe of such an incredible spectacle of nature.
At the top of the South Island I hitched to Abel Tasman National Park. I decided to do another 4-day hike along the coast. However, I only walked a few miles before I trod on the edge of a hole and badly sprained my ankle. I had torn some of the ligaments and could hardly walk. As I was on my own, I had to make a makeshift crutch out of a stick of wood and I hobbled back to the nearest town where I holed up in youth hostel for a few days to recover.
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